The brutal conditions at Himmerland Resort proved too much for everyone except Czechia’s Tereza Zapletal Kozeluhova, who was the only player among the 132-strong field to shoot under-par at the CSK Steel Women’s Open.
Zapletal Kozeluhova withstood intermittent rain showers and 30km/h strong winds to card a one-under 71 and hold a two-stroke advantage over French amateur Alice Kong (73) ahead of Friday’s final round.
Another shot behind at two-over overall in a four-way tie for third are Ireland’s Beth Coulter (76), German amateur Lena Geier (74), Switzerland’s Victoria Levy (73) and England’s Rebecca Earl (74).
Asked how she tamed one of the of the toughest tests on the LET Access Series (LETAS) calendar, Zapletal Kozeluhova said: “It was tough. It was probably the hardest day I’ve ever played in. The combo of the wind and rain, it was hard.
“I managed to make a few birdies. Two of them were from a little bit of distance, like six, seven metres, so it really helped a lot and I had really good irons to the green, and also tee shots weren’t that bad because I had to hit really straight shots.
“I felt like one bad shot and it could be a lot of trouble, so I was just trying to hit the straightest shots possible, and, yeah, it kind of worked out pretty good.
“I was just trying so hard to do my best and just keep trying to make pars and maybe make a birdie on some holes, but I was just trying not to make mistakes.”
Despite facing the windiest conditions she has ever played in, Zapletal Kozeluhova rose highest among her competitors. She did not male a double bogey or worse, mixing four birdies with three bogeys to take the final round solo lead.
The Czech golfer is in red-hot form having recorded three straight top 10 finishes since winning her first professional title at the Women’s English Open, Manchester, in July. She is bidding to become the first player to win twice on the LETAS for the 2026 season.
“I was surprised I played this good,” she said. “I was trying to stay calm as possible because I know that it was hard, and I was just telling myself that for everyone is the same, thinking that everyone will be struggling in these conditions.
“But I’m super happy, and I’m just going to try to stay calm for the next round. This is my first time going to the final round as the leader, so definitely a bit of pressure, but I don’t want to think about it this way.
“I just want to go out there same as I did today and just see how it’s going to go. I think I have a good fight for tomorrow so I’m hoping that we’re going to enjoy it.”
France’s 16-year-old amateur Kong is just two shots back and hoping to clinch her second LETAS title following her playoff triumph at the 2025 Czech Ladies Challenge in similar challenging conditions.
Starting from the 10th tee, Kong made the turn even-par before chipping in for birdie at the par-4 1st hole to kick start her round.
She then traded a bogey on hole 3 for a birdie on the next hole, before two bogeys on holes 5 and 8 dropped her back to one-over overall.
Coulter, Geier, Levy and Earl are also in the mix at two-over, while at four-over the quintet of Sweden’s Elice Fredriksson (75), Theresa De Bochdanovits (80), Spain’s Maria Herraez Galvez (76), Austrian amateur Johanna Janisch (74) and England’s Bel Wardle (78) are in a tie for seventh.
The cut line was set at a whopping 13-over-par, with 61 players earning the chance to play Friday’s final round.
Switzerland’s Natalie Armbruester recovered from a first round 11-over 83 to shoot even-par, making the cut with two shots to spare. Order of Merit leader Lauren Holmey withdrew after carding nine-over 81 on Wednesday.
The final round begins at 7.45am (local time) with the last flight of Zapletal Kozeluhova, Kong and Coulter set to tee off at 9.35am.
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